No Name
by AuthorSwimmerPoet
Summary: Spirited Away, from Haku's perspective, so interaction from the movie, plus an insight to what the missions Yubaba sent him on might have been like. *I don't own Spirited Away*  unfortunately
1. A Pink Shoe

I am lost. I don't know who I am. I don't my name. Yubaba stole it from me. That theft has cost me my freedom and now I work as her apprentice, in the hope that someday I'll be able to remember my name and steal it away from her.

Until then, I am forced to go on these ridiculous missions for her, like my current one, to find a river spirit and fetch a favor from it that it owes her. In other words being Yubaba's apprentice is often more like being her messenger boy.

Which in this particular case also includes getting hit repeatedly over the head with a Purification Wand. "Don't you understand?" The spirit mocks whapping me yet again over the top of my head. He shows no concern for the ordinary humans that have gathered at the shrine, despite that he is dressed as a priest and should have acted more like one if only because people are watching.

I clutch my head defensively; it aches more than I'd ever admit. "Do you have to keep hitting me?" I question in frustration.

The old man face grins wickedly at me. "I'm just trying to help you understand."

"By knocking me out?" I snap furiously.

"The ways of spirits are mysterious." He teases.

I simply glare at him. He doesn't even shift around uncomfortably, so I am forced to speak first. "Are you going to fulfill Yubaba's request or not?"

"I owe her no gifts." He says firmly.

Of course he would want to be difficult about this. "A favor for a favor." I clarify.

His eyes watch me almost blankly.

"Years ago Yubaba did you a favor. Now she requests repayment for that favor. Not a gift a favor." I emphasize.

He doesn't move for several moments before nodding slowly. "Alright dragon boy. Come with me into the shrine."

He leads the way. We step into the shrine. It is surprisingly small, a single room lit by candlelight. I've always thought shrines would be bigger on the inside, but perhaps this spirit simply prefers a cozier dwelling than the sort of spirit that I am accustomed to running into in the bathhouse. As my gaze wanders around the small room, my eyes alight on a small pink shoe that sits on a pedestal in a corner. I jerk back in surprise. For an instant a memory of a pink shoe floating on water flashes through my mind, but as quickly as it comes the memory vanishes again, sinking into the depths of my mind.

The old river spirit is grinning mischievously as I manage to pull my attention from the shoe. "Remember something?" He asks his tone light and almost purposefully casual, but an eager glint in his eye seems to undermine this attempt.

I shake my head forcing the shoe from my mind, as it is so completely unrelated to my mission and the strange memory of it is meaningless to me. "The favor?" I repeat brusquely.

The spirit seems disheartened. "Here," He holds out a fist wrapped tightly around an object that is small enough to be hidden in his palm.

I hold out my palm beneath his fist. He drops something small and round into my palm. It is perhaps the size of a pea, small and red, hardly something that looks like a returned favor.

"Take care not to swallow it on the flight back." He instructs. "That is not for Yubaba, rather something you will need very soon."

I stare at him surprised.

He ignores the look. He turns away from me and rummages for a moment in the corner of the room behind him. "This is the favor for Yubaba." He holds out what looks like an ordinary quill.

"A quill?" I ask unable to contain my surprise.

"Yubaba will have uses for it." The spirit responds cryptically. "She likes the ink I make."

Tentatively I take the quill, dubious of it having any special qualities.

"Now go away." The spirit commands sounding abruptly crabby.

Wondering at his unexpected change of personality, I bow and make my exit of the shrine.

I take my dragon form out of the sight of the humans and begin a semi-leisurely flight back to the bathhouse. I can't take too long because it will be dark reasonably soon, but I have no reason to rush either. I merely have to arrive before Yubaba and she always returns after dark. She will expect my report as soon as she arrives, but I can easily be there before her, knowing that it will be dark by the time she returns.

As I fly, the pink shoe keeps appearing in my mind, floating on water, drifting away. But each time it appears in my thoughts I push it away. Dwelling on the mystery doesn't help anything because the pink shoe means nothing to me. I don't understand why I keep thinking of it. I try not make the comparison of the liquid motion of my flight being similar to swimming, it only brings the shoe back more often, and I don't want to constantly think of something that has so little meaning to me.

Although...as I consider it, the little pink shoe almost has to have some sort of significance to my lost memories, otherwise why would it be so hard to drive from my mind? This line of thought, if anything, is even more frustrating to me. Puzzles have never been particularly soothing to me, I prefer things black and white, easy to see and understand.

Not wanting to dwell on this anymore, I accelerate and try to get back to the bathhouse more quickly than I had originally planned. Anything seems better right now than thinking of that shoe.


	2. I Know Her Name

The sun is close to setting as I fly over the streets that lead to the bathhouse. I am intent on arriving and reporting to Yubaba, until I see a young girl standing on the bridge leading to the bathhouse. I don't know why but I instantly feel the urge to protect her.

Instantly I change course. The girl is leaning over the bride looking down at the briefly passing train when I approach. I use my human form, feeling this will be less likely to terrify her and will hopefully be something she'd be willing to be obedient to.

I am about to speak. But stop, I am close enough to make out the profile of her face quite well. Even just that much of her face seems strangely familiar and for a moment all I can do is stare. A name slips into my mind: Chihiro. I can almost hear voices shouting it from somewhere in my past.

She must feel my gaze because she turns from the train below to look directly at me. She seems as startled as I am and we simply stare at each other for a moment. Facing her directly I think, _I do know that face._ But I can't remember how or where I know the face. I push past these randomly resurfacing memories, "You shouldn't be here," I command, marching forward at her. "Leave now, before it gets dark." I step forward and begin to push her away. "You've got to get across the river, go; I'll distract them."

She begins to run. Hopefully she'll keep running and get across the river.

I turn to face the bathhouse. I produce a few dragon scales and blow them out onto the wind. Hopefully my scent will cloud any of the human scent she might have left on the bridge.

I take to the air again, planning to simply return to Yubaba. I am only in the air for a few moments when my dragon ears catch the girl's terrified voice calling for her parents. Concern overwhelms me and I change distraction not sure how I will help, but knowing she needs to cross the river before darkness has fallen. Dark has already mostly fallen so I don't know if she will have had enough time to make it, especially with as frantic as she seems to be about her lost parents.

As I fly over the town, I notice a commotion by one of the food vendors stalls. Thinking it might be Chihiro – the girl, I correct myself, I never asked so I can't assume that is her name – I swoop down to investigate. A spirit is beating a pair of pigs away from his food. From the mess of food that is lying in great heaps and the fact that they are pigs, I realize almost immediately what must have happened. The girl _and_ her parents seem to have accidentally wandered into this world. Now I almost hope the girl didn't make it across the river. She will be the only means of turning her parents back from this mess.

Leaving the spirit to deal with the pigs, as they'll be placed with the other greedy humans that wandered into this world with or without my help; I take my human form and shout out at the spirit to deal with the pigs, though it's really unnecessary that I give him any sort of instruction, the spirits know how to handle intrusions by greedy humans.

I run to the river and think that perhaps she made it, because I don't immediately see her. As I scan the banks I find her, which is not an easy feat as she has begun to disappear from this world. She is cowering by the stairs where the spirits disembark from the ship that has already completed its nightly crossing of the river.

I race over to her, but she is so terrified and so close to disappearing that she doesn't even notice. She is crouched her head buried and tucked away; instinctively I put my arm around her. Her head whips up in surprise.

Unsurprisingly she looks terrified, so I do my best to soothe her. "Don't be afraid. I'm a friend."

She tries to pull away and protests anyways.

Abruptly I realize why the spirit gave me the bead-like object. It must be some sort of berry that Chihiro can eat, which will keep her grounded in the spirit world so that she'll be able to get her parents back. How the spirit had known all that is beyond my comprehension, but I am grateful for the gift nonetheless. I pull it out. "Here eat this." I instruct her. "Eat something from this world or you'll vanish completely." She continues to struggle and tries to push me away. Her hands slip incorporeally through me. She turns slowly to look at me, terror streaking her features as she looks at her hands slipping through me.

Gently I force the berry into her mouth. "Don't worry it won't turn you into a pig." I reassure her.

She chews it, her expression full of displeasure. Finally she swallows.

"There all better," I tell her, "See?" And I hold up my hand for her to touch.

She reaches out hesitantly; her fingers are light and gentle against my palm. "I'm okay," She murmurs, sounding surprised.

I stand. "Now come with me,"

She stays on the ground and tugs on my arm urgently. "Where are my mom and dad? They didn't really turn into pigs did they?"

"You can't see them now, but they're okay." I tell her. The return of a familiar presence distracts me before I can explain anything else. My gaze flies to the sky.


	3. Baby

"Don't move," I demand and crouch protectively in front of Chihiro. My palm hits the wall as I raise my arm protectively around her, while the other wraps tightly around the girl squeezing her body as close to mine as possible.

I watch Yubaba's bird circle in the sky above us, before tilting its wings and flying off. "That bird's looking for you; you've got to get out of here." I instruct, tugging on her hand to pull her to her feet.

Surprisingly she doesn't rise to her feet with my tugging. "Ah my legs I can't stand up! What do I do?" She practically shrieks at me.

I crouch beside her again. "Calm down," I instruct, "Take a deep breath." While she is focused on the task of simply breathing I whisper, "In the name of the water and wind within me unbind her." And run my hand inches above her leg, hoping the spell will work, because there isn't anything else a mere dragon could do to release her from what is binding her to the ground. Before I can second guess the magic I move to pull her to her feet, "Get up," I hide my relief that she stands and pull her after me, running through the back alleys of the village. We also race through several empty buildings, including the enclosure for the pigs, but I don't even pause to see if the spirit did my bidding and brought the girl's parents here, I simply continue to race along pulling Chihiro behind me.

I slow down as we draw closer to the bridge, carefully giving Chihiro instruction not to breathe as we approach, because I know that the spirits will be able to smell her breath and recognize that she is human. I comfort her in her worry and we pass the first obstacle, the frogs welcoming the spirits as the make their way onto the bridge.

Trying to seem as calm and natural as possible, I announce, "I'm back from my mission." And march past them as if there is nothing unusual for them to see. Being frogs, naturally they are unobservant and don't realize I'm bringing a human along instead of just another spirit.

"Take a deep breath," I whisper. I hear her sucking in breath, "Hold it." I command.

Out of the corner of my eye I see her hand spring up to squeeze tightly around her mouth and nose.

We step onto the bridge; I maintain a natural looking pace, but as quick as I dare knowing that Chihiro will not be able to hold her breath for long. She clings to me, her feet matching the same hurried pace as mine.

"Master Haku!" A squeaky voice calls; I groan inwardly, couldn't the miniature frog have waited until we walked a few more feet, but I don't let my annoyance show, as Yubaba's henchman I am notorious for being practically expressionless. "Where have you been?" The frog blurts leaping up in front of me.

Chihiro's breath bursts from her, despite the precaution she had taken.

The frog lands, "What a human?"

I don't wait a moment, "Let's go!" I shout at Chihiro trapping the frog in a brief spell of binding. It hangs suspended in the air, from the force of my magic.

I pull Chihiro forward, not quite taking my dragon form but using that flying ability to sweep between the legs of those blocking our way. I hear the woman making excited swooning sort of noises as I open as small door in the wall and guide Chihiro into one of the bathhouse's gardens. We crouch behind a bush as simply listen to the uproar going on inside the bathhouse as frogs and woman alike race about calling my name.

I hold onto her for a moment, frustrated and thinking. "They know you're here," I say softly.

Sheepishly she apologized. "I'm sorry I took a breath."

"No Chihiro, you did very well." I correct not even considering that I am usuing her name when she hasn't even told it to me, something that she might find strange, even amongst this world of spirits. I launch into an explanation of what needs to happen, beginning with me creating a diversion for her.

Chihiro protests the separation, naturally, she is that sort, and at this point I am probably the only even semi-familiar thing in this world.

So I give her the truth, "You don't have any choice if you want to help your parents." Gently I continue past her realization that her parents really are pigs. "Don't worry." I place a hand to her forehead, my instructions to reach Kamaji will be easier if she can see it in her mind as I am describing where she needs to go.

I finish my instruction and Chihiro listens, her face puzzled and scared. She repeats some of the names I have told her in a quiet terrified voice.

Voices begin calling my name even more loudly than before.

"I have to go and don't forget Chihiro, I'm your friend." I stand, her hands still cling to mine.

"How did you know my name's Chihiro?" She asks, finally catching onto the fact that I've using her name without her informing me of it.

"I've known you since you were very small."I respond, not entirely sure where this memory is coming from, but fairly sure it relates to that pink shoe that is still hovering at the edge of my mind. "Good luck and whatever you do, don't make a sound." I finish speaking and straighten completely our hands separating.

"Master Haku!" Yet another voice calls.

"Calm down, I'm coming." I report in a slightly annoyed tone.

I walk away from the girl and up the path to the entry into the bathhouse, "Master Haku, Yubaba wants to see you," One of the frogs informs me, rather pointlessly. Of course I know all of this, I was expected to report to her ages ago, and now with all the commotion the miniature frog had probably raised about a human, I was sure she would want to question me even further about that.

"I know," I respond to the frog coolly, "It's about my mission right?" I ask and brush past the frogs, not even waiting for them to formulate a response.

I quickly make my way through the bathhouse and up to Yubaba's floor knowing it would be best if my audience was finished with Yubaba before Chihiro approaches her.

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><p>I reach Yubaba's rooms and haven't even touched the knocker when the doors swing open. It doesn't surprise me that she had been awaiting my arrival. Calm and collected I make my way down the hallway to her actual audience chambers.<p>

After a few minutes I stood before Yubaba. I quirk an eyebrow. "You summoned me," I state in my most detached tone.

Yubaba glares at me and points an angry finger in my direction. "Where have you been boy? You're supposed to be here to report as soon as I arrive."

"Fetching your favor from the river spirit took longer than expected." I lie calmly. Years of dealing with Yubaba have taught me exactly how to lie without her noticing a thing. The lie itself was easy enough to prepare, I had an excuse to be gone already, so creating a believable reason had taken practically no effort on my part.

Yubaba eyes me suspiciously. "Are you lying to me, boy? What's all this I hear about a human in the bathhouse?" Her voice croaks in annoyance.

"I don't know anything about a human." I respond, still easily keeping everything hidden inside of me.

"If you're lying to me -" Yubaba starts angrily.

I shrug at her, looking as unconcerned as I can.

She is clearly becoming perturbed by my nonchalance; she steps out from behind her desks and draws close to me, menacingly close, her nose pressed up against the length of my body as she eyes me, trying to make me uncomfortable, but she has used the trick so many times that it hardly affects me anymore. Her large nail taps against me. "I will find out if you're lying."

I snort, "Why would I lie to you? I'm your apprentice; did you want the favor or not?"

Yubaba pulls away from me, still looking a bit suspicious but distracted by the reminder of what I was supposed to bring her.

"Hand it here boy," Her voice demands, her crooked palm lying open to the air.

I pull out the quill and place it almost carelessly into Yubaba's hand.

Her fingers curl like claws around it. "Go watch my baby." She commands in her usual imperious way, something almost mischievous creeping into her expression.

I bow and exit the room obediently, though I hate taking care of her obnoxious child. She spoils it rotten while still managing to keep it terrified of leaving its bedroom. It's ridiculous. Frankly I don't know why she even bothers to have me babysit; her child is too terrified to ever go anywhere or do anything that I would need to stop.

I enter the playroom, and sit unconcernedly on a pillow. I'm sure the bed is hiding somewhere beneath a pile of pillows but I can't be bothered to actually look for the kid. He seems to keep himself pretty well entertained, just by remaining underneath pillows for the majority of the day.

A rustling noise draws my attention across the room. A pile of pillows shifts. I sigh, standing and approach the pillows. It looks like baby is having some difficulty climbing out. With as much patience as I can muster, I help shift the pillows around so the baby can climb out.

I lift a pillow from his face and he sulks up at me, apparently disappointed that I am not his mother. I raise an eyebrow but refuse to say anything, if baby wants something he'll have to ask.

He seems equally determined not to speak first and merely stares up at me. Though his expression grows more and more frustrated as I simply return the stare.

We continue our staring match until, I feel a slight tug in my abdomen, a silent summons from Yubaba. I turn away and leave the baby's chambers. This most recent demand on me, trumps her earlier demand that I watch her child.


	4. Summons

**A/N: So I realized on publishing the last chapter that Chihiro upsets the baby while she meets with Yubaba and that hadn't happened yet with the babysitting and all...so I apologize for any awkwardness this brings into the story. The beginning of this chapter was the best I could do to make sure everything that was supposed to happen did happen...**

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><p>I enter Yubaba's chamber again. She stares at me for a moment, before casually flicking her finger in a come-here gesture. I approach a bit warily, unsure what she is going to request of me now.<p>

"Someone's coming." Yubaba informs me.

I feel myself stiffen slightly, thinking of Chihiro.

"I want you to be waiting in the hallway to escort them away. This shouldn't take long, then you can go back to the matter of taking care of my child."

I fought back a groan. I hate when she makes me out to be nothing more than a messenger boy and babysitter. I nod with my fists clenched and the muscles in my face tight, from fighting not to show my disdain.

Yubaba nods; she looks pleased. "Go now, I'll fetch you again when it's time for you to take the filth away."

A brief tremor runs through me and I turn on my heel to hide it, a wave of protective anger runs through me. I'm sure it's Chihiro Yubaba's referring to and my strangely protective instincts towards the girl are acting up again.

I practically slam the door behind and me and stand quivering and shaking in the hallway. I pray that Yubaba won't throw Chihiro out, I promised I'd help her. The only way to free her parents would be if she worked here. Hopefully Chihiro would be able to stand up for herself and Yubaba would take her on as a worker.

I stand and stew lost in thought, trying to find a way to protect and help Chihiro should Yubaba refuse to hire her. I realize it is most likely impossible, but I am determined to find a way if at all possible.

My frustrated reverie is abruptly broken by Chihiro's shouting voice. I smile impressed by her determination, if she is going to make such a fuss, I doubt that Yubaba will be able to simply send her away.

Yubaba's begins to yell and grumble angrily at Chihiro, it's almost enough to make me laugh, except for the threats that are passing from Yubaba's lips are a very real threat to Chihiro, Yubaba would not hesitate to make good on any of them.

It sounds as if Chihiro continues to stand firm in her request for a job, even while Yubaba is struggling to quiet the baby. I silently cheer Chihiro on in this, if there's one thing Yubaba respects it's determination like Chihiro is showing. Finally Yubaba acquiesces and promises Chihiro a job.

There is relative silence as Chihiro signs, broken only by Yubaba's frustrated mutterings.

I feel the tugging of Yubaba's silent call, steeling myself to my normal emotionless state, I enter the room as Yubaba yells at Chihiro that she is now to be called Sen.

"You called for me." I say quietly.

"This girl signed a contract set her up with a job." Yubaba commands dismissively.

"Right." I turn to look at Chihiro, "What's your name?" I go through this formality, knowing that it will help disguise the fact that I helped Chihiro get here.

"Chi-" She begins and then quietly, "oh, it's Sen." It saddens me to hear this, now she really has lost her name, even she'd been clinging to it before. I know the pain of not having your true name.

"Okay Sen follow me." I turn silently away and lead her to the elevator.

Knowing that Yubaba is watching what we do, because her suspicions are not so easily discounted, I remain silent as we ride the elevator to the lower levels. When Chihiro tries to speak to me, though it hurts I interrupt tersely and say, "Don't talk to me." Hopefully she understands the need for secrecy about my helping her. "Address me as Master Haku." I keep my gaze firmly fixed to the front of the elevator, wishing I didn't have to be so harsh, but at the moment it was the only way that I could protect Chihiro.

"I don't care if you Yubaba gets angry with us." The frog foreman grumbles.

"We're not taking humans." Adds another.

"She's already under contract."

"What!" The frog exclaims.

Chihiro interjects, "I promise to work very hard." She even bows her head submissively.

The other workers begin to grumble and complain mostly about the smell that Chihiro has a human rather than a spirit.

I am frustrated by the workers' abhorrence to a simple human, so I know that I must do what I can to stand up for her. "Three days of eating our food and the smell will go away. If she doesn't work hard roast her, boil her, do whatever you want, now get back to work."

The frogs and other workers begin to shuffle away.

"Where is Lin?"

"What don't dump her on me!" An annoyed voice protests in response to my inquiry.

"You said you wanted an assistant," I explain coolly, while doing my best not to smile, Lin, for reasons of her own has to put on the same sort of act I do regarding Chihiro.

The foreman also seems infinitely pleased by this arrangement.

Lin calls Chihiro to her and I turn to leave. Lin shouts after me, "You owe me one Haku." I simply continue on my way. I can feel Yubaba calling for me again, there is no rest being her apprentice.


	5. Another Mission

**So by comparison this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it was a really hard one to write, and I got sick of working on it when it wasn't making me any happier when I edited it, so here it is. Hopefully you still enjoy it.**

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><p>"Haku," Yubaba begins grumpily as soon as I return to her office. "I have another mission for you."<p>

I manage to repress a sigh. I expected no less, but it's still frustrating to be so much under her thumb all the time.

"If that brat of a human managed to slip in, along with her parents, I must go check our borders again, we want as little riffraff stumbling as is possible. I'd rather these ridiculous humans hadn't stumbled upon our home at all, but since they have, measures must be taken to see that more don't follow." She paces across the room in her frustration, which is slightly unusual, normally she is more in control of herself.

"What do you want me to do then?" I ask rather grumpily. Her explanation is pointless if she's only talking about what she will do and not what I need to do for her.

"I need you to babysit Bo for me."

I blink in surprise. Normally she doesn't refer to taking care of her child as a 'mission' for me. However, I recover and bow my head. "Whatever you wish, Yubaba."

Yubaba nods imperiously and makes her way towards the window, beginning to wrap herself up in her strange birdlike form. I stand and watch her leave. I am impatient for her to disappear. As she forced me to accept her bidding, a desire had emerged in me, a desire to rebel. I could only think of the strange girl, Chihiro. It seems strange to me, that she is so quickly and easily on my mind, but I can think of nothing but her. I want to help her.

As soon as Yubaba is no more than I dark speck in the distance I turn away and demand the three faces to watch the baby for me. As he never leaves the nursery they really shouldn't have any difficulty with this task, then trying not to show my hurry, in case there is anyone about to watch me, I make my way down to the room where Rin should have taken Chihiro to sleep.

I arrive at the workers' sleeping quarters and creep past rooms crammed full of snoring frogs, unsurprisingly they are just as annoying sleeping as they are when they stupid things are awake.

Finally I arrive at Chihiro's room. I slide the door open softly and quickly scan the lumps of sleeping figures. Chihiro is fairly easy to spot as she is the smallest lump, poor thing, just a child amongst all the spirit women. I feel that strange urge to protect her again. I shake the feeling. I came here for a different reason.

More carefully than I was passing the frog rooms, I tiptoe across the room. I pause for only a moment standing by Chihiro's bed. Swiftly, I crouch down. I rest a hand lightly on her, the pressure hopefully enough to wake her without startling her.

"Meet me by the bridge," I whisper. "I'll take you to your parents." Quickly I make my way back across the room and disappear quickly from the worker's quarters. I feel as if perhaps I should have waited for her, but overall I think it is better that I make as little chance for us to be seen together as possible.

"Let's hope those spirits put her pigs where I asked." I murmur to myself and hurry to my meeting place with Chihiro.


	6. Of Pigs and Names

Before I have fully left Yubaba's apartments I realize there is one more thing that I can do for Chihiro. It had hurt to see her using the name Yubaba had given her. I don't know if it will truly help, but I want to give her as many opportunities to remember what her true name is as I can. Going by instinct I am able to find what I am looking for surprisingly quickly. I feel this somehow indicates that I am doing the right thing by giving this back to Chihiro. I'll hide it near the pighouses to give to Chihiro. As I hold it, I pause for a moment, inexplicably reminded once more of the pink shoe.

I shake the feeling and hurry to kitchens, I grab some onigiri; it is likely that Chihiro will be upset by the sight of her parents as pigs, and I know of no more soothing comfort food than onigiri. Then I hurry out past the bridge and stash the items of my errand amongst the shrubs and flowers on the path to the pighouses. I won't need them quite yet.

I do not have to wait a long time for Chihiro to arrive, but I am not terribly surprised. I had only the one brief errand to run, and she simply had to make her way through the bathhouse, so it made sense that I was not waiting for her long. She obviously loves her parents and I can only imagine her worry after seeing them turned into pigs.

She is looking towards the bathhouse across the bridge when I step out from the bushes to meet her. "Follow me," I instruct and turn away already heading for the pen where the pigs are kept.

I am still not entirely sure why I am doing this, but I do know I care more about Chihiro than anything Yubaba has ever commanded me to do. It is a strange feeling, to want to do something more than to obey Yubaba, her word has been law for so many years for me. I've had no reason to care about that until now.

I lead her quietly and steadily through the bushes that mark the path to the pighouse. Once we were safely secluded from where it was likely for an spirits to overhear I instructed, "You'll have to hurry, if you're found here you'll be turned into a pig yourself." It seems a rather ridiculous rule, especially as Chihiro is only trying to get her family back together and human, but I was not the one to create these rules and most of the spirits here, especially if we encountered a frog, were sticklers for reporting things to Yubaba which tended to get people turned into pigs.

The flowering bushes broke abruptly before us, showing the downward descent to the pighouses. "You must never come here without me," I add as I begin the descent.

I can hear birds chirping over her faint response of, "I understand."

It makes me smile faintly. I can only imagine how terrified she must be, practically alone in the spirit world about to encounter her parents who have been turned into pigs. In a way I feel rather proud to be defying Yubaba and helping this poor lost girl. I still don't understand why but I feel a strong connection to her, stronger than should be possible for only having just met her.

We keep quiet the rest of the way to the pens. I wonder what she is thinking. Finally we are in front of the correct pighouse. I open the door and stand in the doorway watching her. On shaking feet she steps into the pighouse. She glances at me and I nod encouragingly.

Suddenly she is running to the pen. I hear the metal railing clang faintly as she bashes into it. Her overeager speed lending her little control of her actions.

"Mom! Dad! Are you alright it's me Sen!"

I wince slightly, that girl can shout, but I wince more for the name she has lost, the name she no longer remembers.

Her shouting continues, "Hey wake up! Mom! Dad!"

I come closer and she looks at me rather terrified.

"What's wrong with them? Are they sick?"

The question makes me want to laugh a little, poor Chihiro doesn't know a thing about the spirit world. Didn't they teach any of these things in schools anymore? I hadn't ever thought the humans view on the spirit world was taught entirely accurately, but I had thought there was more teaching than her distinct lack of knowledge implies. Rather than laughing I answer her question. "No, they ate too much; they're sleeping it off." Knowing that whatever instruction I can give her is important I add: "They don't remember being human, so look hard, it's up to you to remember which ones they are." It is lucky that at least for now her parents are the only two pigs in that particular pen. I am sure a loving child like Chihiro could remember them even if they had been in a group, but it makes it easier for her to just have to see the two, rather than needing to pick them out from a group.

She stares at the pigs for a long moment, her body trembling slightly. I can only watch quietly, my remembering which ones they are won't be what helps her save her parents.

"DON'T YOU WORRY I PROMISE I'LL GET YOU OUT OF HERE, JUST DON'T GET ANY FATTER OR THEY'LL EAT YOU!"

I am almost expecting the shouting this time, so I am able to stand and wait without any reaction. I watch for a moment longer as Chihiro dashes away from the pen and out of the pighouse. It is time to give her results of my little errand.

Much as I hate to abandon her even for a short time, I allow Chihiro to race off into the hedges while I hurriedly go to my hiding place and fetch what I have to give her.

I find her crouched amongst the hedges. I am surprised I can't hear her sobbing. She appears to have just tucked herself tightly up against her crouched knees.

Standing over her awkwardly I hold out her clothing, keeping quiet. I don't want to frighten her by my sudden appearance, but since she's not reacting, I add, trying to be gentle, "Here are your clothes."

Her head lifts slowly from her knees. As I add the command, "Hide them," She reaches out and grabs onto the clothes tightly. She stares up at me, "I thought they'd been thrown away."

I smile down at her. It was nice to be able to give something back to her, I hate that she has been so sad for this whole time, and that there will only be more troubles for her to come if she is to save her parents.

"You'll need them to get home." I tell her kindly, before crouching down beside her. I pull out the onigiri, thinking it is probably a good time for her to eat.

While I'm doing this she reaches into her clothing and pulls out a small card. "My goodbye card's still here." She whispers. She stares at the card.

I watch her face, from her expression this is a very significant thing to have found, indeed. She blinks at it. "Chihiro..." She murmurs.

A thrill of excitement rushes through me. That little card has saved her. She hasn't lost her name after all!

"Chihiro," She repeats and looks at me, "that's my name isn't it?"

I bow my slightly in acknowledgement, amazed at how well I am controlling myself, despite this most fortunate discovery. "That's how Yubaba controls you, by stealing your name." I explain, I continue on trying to ignore her wide-eyed surprise. "So hold on to that card, keep it hidden and while you live here, you must call yourself Sen."

"I can't believe I forgot my name." She babbles. "She almost took it from me."

I feel my sadness returning from this statement. She has taken my name. I don't know how to get it back. So I give her the warning that only I can lacking a name, because of Yubaba's trickery. "If you completely forget it you'll never find your way home." I find that I can't look at her anymore and turn away. "I've done everything I can to try and remember mine."

"You can't remember your name?" Her worry and sadness are painful, but I want to hear them, it will help her remember the warning and keep her own name even more safely.

I can't just leave her so sad, so I meet her gaze again, a faint smile slipping across my face, "No, but for some reason I remember yours." I turn away again and begin unwrapping the onigiri. It's sat untouched for much longer than I had planned. I pick up one and present it to her. "Here, eat this you must be hungry."

She stares at it for a brief moment. And then looks away, a faint, "No," escapes her lips.

I know that it is better for her to eat, so I say, "I put a spell on it, so it'll give you back your strength." While the spell is a lie, it is true that eating should help her recover her strength. I've always found that a full stomach is the best way to build one's nerve. I press it at her a little more firmly. "Just eat it."

After a moment she clasps it gently in both hands. I wonder for a moment if she is just going to stare at it rather than eat it, but finally she takes a rather substantial bite. She chews for a long moment, before a sort of excited eagerness passes over her features. She takes larger and larger bites, chewing at the rice less and less. Until she has so much in her mouth that she is forced to pause and actually chew for a moment. This is when the tears begin to pour down her cheeks. Great, large tears, tears that I hope will help her heal from the pain of seeing her parents cast as pigs. I hope that once the tears are gone she will have found her inner strength again and be ready to do what she must in order to get her parents back from Yubaba.

She continues to eat and cry until the first onigiri is gone. Then she takes a moment and just wails. I place my arm around her shoulders. It is important for her to realize that she is not alone in this. I will do whatever I can to help her reunite with her parents.

Knowing the food can only help, I offer her the onigiri once more, "Have some more. You'll be alright."

She wipes her tears from her face, still breathing like she is about to sob once more and grabs the rest of the onigiri in either hand. Still sobbing, but sounding less traumatized as she does so.


	7. Wet Like the River

Wet Like the River

We stand for a moment at the gate by the bridge. "I've got to go now, I'll be back to help you soon, just stay out of trouble."

"Thank you Haku you're a good friend."

I watch for a few moments as she races across the bridge. But I don't wait for her to finish crossing before I change to my dragon form and take to the air. I am sure that she will be alright and I have business that I want to attend to before Yubaba has time to return. I am not looking forward to more smacks on the head, but there doesn't seem to be any other way for me to learn about that darn pink shoe. I just want thoughts of it out of my head, or at the very least to understand why I can't stop thinking about it now that I saw it at that shrine. I am fairly certain I can get the answers I need from the river spirit.

I am even prepared to beg if necessary.

As I race towards my destination, I notice that a few drops of wetness have begun to catch at me. I curse softly. If it begins to rain with any sort of consistency, it is going to make it more difficult for me to return before Yubaba. I distinctly dislike flying in the rain, as any sort of downpour tends to slow my flying. The rain might also cause Yubaba to return more quickly than expected as I doubt she would want to be caught in it either.

Despite this, I continue towards the shrine. I must speak to that spirit about that shoe. I fear I won't find any peace until I do. Desperation is urging me onwards; I don't wish to turn back until I can at least be satisfied about where my memories of that shoe come from.

Finally I arrive at the shrine. But I almost wonder if I have returned to the right place. When I was here before there were swarms of people, and perhaps the increasing wetness can account for their disappearance, but the shrine itself had also looked much more cared for. Now the once bright cobbled path leading to building of the shrine looks pounded and broken, deep cracks cutting through many of the stones. The building of the shrine is worn. The paint cracked and stripped, even the supports of the building seem to droop in weariness.

The river that ran beside the shrine seemed different too, lower and dirtier, flowing a slow and sickly brown, the rain that was now determinedly pounding from the sky, hardly doing anything to swell the water towards its banks.

"What happened to this place?" I asked quietly staring about in amazement. I half expected the old man river spirit to jump out and either explain or smack me on the head, but everything remained quiet. I wait for a long minute; the only thing I can hear is the continuous pounding of the rain.

As the river spirit still has not appeared, I decide it is best for me not to stand around, especially as Yubaba could be on her way to the bathhouse again already. Feeling guilty for intruding, I push my way into the shrine.

I am stunned to see, though based on everything else I should have at least suspected it, that the interior of the shrine also seems to have fallen into disrepair, beams from the walls or ceiling lie around at hazardous angles, the floor is covered in a thick dusty dirt and cobwebs are scattered thickly about the room. The pink shoe and the pedestal it rested upon have completely disappeared.

I'm not going to make it back in time, Yubaba will be very angry with me for this. The rain makes it nearly impossible to fly at my usual speed, and is even more distracting than usual, because the slick wetness keeps reminding me of that annoying pink shoe, floating away on a river.

I was within sight of the bathhouse, when I was startled by a bird flying into my face, before I'd completely recovered I realized it was Yubaba's bird creature that had her face. "Haku," It squawked at me angrily. "Where have you been?"

I winced. It was surprising she'd even managed to find me. She usually didn't bother exerting so much of her magic for such things.

Thankfully the bird squawked on before I was forced to come up with an explanation for my disappearance. "I need you to fetch something for me."

Only mildly disgruntled by her usual bossiness, I followed the bird to the bathhouse. "My sister has been acting up again." The bird continued in Yubaba's voice. "She's been attempting to steal our funds. I need you to go to her house and teach her a lesson. Steal something valuable from her. I won't let my sister trifle with me."

Her minion finally shut up and continued towards the bathhouse with a final stern look directing me to head for Swamp's Bottom. I'd only been there was before, on another mission that hadn't boded well for Yubaba's sister, but I remembered the way. My memories of Yubaba's commands was long, even if it failed me in more important matters.

Worry swirled in my belly, but there was nothing I could do but follow Yubaba's orders. Until I found my name, no matter how disagreeable I found her demands, I had to obey. Someday though, I would find my name. I would escape Yubaba's clutches and be free to do as I pleased once again. It would take a long time to reach Zeniba's home. I suspected that it would be a night full of worry and torment between trying to remember my name and where I had first come across that shoe.

The rain continued to beat against me long into the night.


End file.
